About Jake Hanson

After graduating in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Utah in 2009, I felt the traditional economy had little to offer my long-term interests. So instead of using that degree, I became an activist. I became one of the first core members of Peaceful Uprising, a climate-social-justice group that formed in Salt Lake City after Tim DeChristopher disrupted the BLM’s 2008 illegal auction of gas parcels around Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. I later worked to found Transition Salt Lake and have spent the last 4 years working with a variety of related groups in Salt Lake.

In 2013, having questioned the effectiveness of my resistance and activism, I moved to Colorado and became the first full time-student and current co-creator of Transition Lab, a replicable grassroots education teaching the skills and mindset for local resilience, and empowering them through new economic models. In addition to a permaculture design certificate course, Transition Lab's curriculum teaches ways to create positive alternatives to a life in the traditional economy. I'm currently working towards building and replicating the program.